Raising the minimum wage would increase family income for many low-wage workers, moving some of them out of poverty. But some jobs for low-wage workers would probably be eliminated and the income of those workers would fall substantially.

Under current law, deficits will drop through 2015 but rise thereafter, boosting the already high federal debt, CBO projects. Economic growth will be solid in the near term, but unemployment will not drop below 6.0 percent until 2017.

Since the recession ended in June 2009, employment has risen sluggishly and the unemployment rate has fallen only partway back to its prerecession level. This CBO report discusses the reasons for the slow recovery of the labor market.

Director Doug Elmendorf spoke last week with the Healthcare Leadership Council, a group of leaders from hospitals, health plans, pharmaceutical companies, academic health centers, biotech firms, and other parts of the health care system.

CBO must issue a report that provides estimates of the caps on discretionary budget authority in effect for each fiscal year through 2021. CBO must also report whether, based on its estimates, enacted legislation has exceeded those caps.